Sunday, January 8

For a while I wrote a fun series of posts on Babble called “3 Kids, A Mom & a Kitchen.” For one of the article the girls and I made a super tasty Barbecue Chicken Salad recipe. I just clicked through to link to that recipe for today’s weekly menu and discovered that Babble did a website update, which means the captions that had the recipe included are missing! So, I’m reposting the recipe here, for posterity’s sake. Well, actually, mostly for my sake so I can have the recipe handy. 😉

This is one of those recipes that’s not really a recipe – no measurements necessary and feel free to add or omit ingredients at will. I pretty much stole the idea for this salad from a restaurant called Croutons. Enjoy!

Friday, April 22

Hi friends. Today’s recipe isn’t really a recipe at all. I would say it’s more of a kitchen tip and one that I am loving. Today I’m going to tell you how to make super easy chicken for tacos that tastes so good. And when I say easy, I mean easy.

My cousin Jamie gave me this idea and I will be forever grateful to her. We were cooking up tacos one night and had chopped up a bunch of grilled chicken thighs. Jamie grabbed some leftover taco seasoning and tossed it in the bowl. GENIUS. The chicken turned out awesome and now I make it this for tacos all the time.

You can use any taco seasoning, but my favorite is from Penzeys. Not only does this seasoning taste great, but it comes in a jar, so you can use as much or as little as you want. It’s so much better than a packet.

Also, I always grill my chicken and while this is super tasty with chicken breasts, chicken thighs are definitely my favorite. Just grill up the meat, cut into bitesized pieces, then toss with taco seasoning.

This seasoned chicken is also great on salad or in a wrap. Basically it’s the best. You’re welcome.

Thursday, September 17

Today’s recipe has been a long time coming. It’s been in my head forEVER and today I finally took it out of my head and made it reality. And boy-oh-boy am I glad I did. I never say “boy-oh-boy,” so that should tell you how good this recipe is.

For quite some time I’ve been thinking that Indian food would be good filler for a burrito. After all, flour tortillas are a really excellent blank canvas for all kinds of flavors. Including Indian flavors.

I used my homemade tandoori chicken as the base for the burrito, then just piled on all kinds of other wonderful ingredients. The result was delectable. In fact, I had an Indian burrito for lunch today and then couldn’t wait to have it again for dinner.

If I wanted to start a food truck (which I don’t), this burrito is what I would serve. Since I’m never going to start a food truck, I’ll just spill all my secrets.

In case you are wondering, our kids ate their burritos, although they each had a different variation, from Owen with just tandoori chicken and rice to Anna who used about half of the ingredients to Cate who went for the whole enchilada, or burrito, actually!

Wednesday, March 25

When I linked to Pat’s Asian Chicken Salad recipe on my menu earlier this week, I was surprised to discover that I had never actually written a post about it before. I decided it was about time!

I love this salad. It is one of my favorite go-to dinners and it’s super tasty. As with many of my great go-to dinner ideas, this one comes from my mother-in-law Pat. I don’t know what I would do with her! So, seriously, this is a great go-to dinner. Just last night I was convinced I didn’t have time to make dinner but was able to pull this together faster than if we’d done take out. And everyone in the family loves it!

Thursday, February 19

I think it’s time for another Crazy Easy Chicken Recipe! Today’s “recipe” is one of the first things I ever cooked. Even though this non-recipe recipe is beyond easy and simple, it’s incredibly tasty and versatile. In fact, I don’t know why I don’t cook chicken like this more often.

Italian dressing is kind of magical. It’s one of those ingredients that can quickly add flavor to all kinds of recipes. My favorite uses are in potato salad and for marinating chicken, which brings us to today’s recipe!

All you need is chicken and Italian dressing. That’s it. You’re done. Be sure to stab your chicken as directed. That is the key to making your chicken extra tender and filled with that Italian dressing flavor.

Tuesday, February 10

I love Penzeys Spices. In fact, one of the things I miss most about living in Menlo Park is having a Penzeys store just down the street. Since the nearest store is now about 45 minutes away, I really appreciate getting the catalog that much more. And, unlike the store, the catalog is filled with all kinds of great recipes.

Nate got his hands on the latest catalog and requested that I make three of the recipes in it, so we’ve been doing one Penzeys recipe a week. I started with a recipe for Chicken Kai Pa Lo, a Thai soup served with rice and soft-boiled eggs. Kai pa lo is traditionally made with pork, but this particular recipe called for dark meat chicken.

This dinner was GOOD. Nate and I loved it and the kids all liked it, too. In fact, 7-year-old Anna was especially enamored with this dish and practically licked the bowl clean. Nate and I both agreed that this kai pa lo tasted as good as anything we’ve eaten at a Thai restaurant. I am so glad Nate got me to try this recipe. Penzeys once again for the win!

This recipe originally came from a Penzeys Catalog and was submitted by one of their customers Jennifer Sombutmai. I have modified the recipe by adjusting measurements and making them more specific, and I changed the meat used to speed the cooking process.

Author: Jane Maynard

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil

Half of a medium yellow onion, diced

4 fresh garlic cloves, minced or pushed through a garlic press

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ground white pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon chicken soup base (Penzeys sells this, I also use "Better Than Bouillon" from the store)

6 cups water

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 soft boiled egg per serving

1½ tablespoons Chinese Five Spice

Chopped green onions (optional)

Instructions

Heat oil in a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, mix together the soy sauce, garlic powder and white pepper. Rub this mixture on both sides of the chicken pieces.

Once the onions are translucent, add fresh garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Push the onions to the side of the pot a bit and add the chicken pieces to the center of the pot. Brown chicken on both sides, about 4 minutes a side.

Add the soup base to the pot then pour in the water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let cook uncovered until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. I use a thermometer to check for doneness - chicken is ready at 160º F.

Remove chicken from the pot and shred/cut into bite-sized pieces. Add the five spice and brown sugar to the pot, stir well, then return chicken to the pot. Simmer 5-10 more minutes.

Serve soup in a bowl with jasmine rice and a soft-boiled egg. Top with green onions if using.

Thursday, October 23

I recently discovered a quick “recipe” for lemon pepper chicken that I simply have to share with you. The chicken is tender and flavorful and it’s just so easy to make! This chicken is delicious fresh out of the oven served with rice and a veggie, but I also love it served cold over salad. It would be great in sandwiches, too!

I sort of accidentally created this recipe. I thought I was making a recipe for luscious lemon chicken that I received from a friend 15 years ago. I was going from memory and the final result was what you see here in this post. Only, when I looked the original recipe up later, I discovered I left a bunch of ingredients and steps out! So, now I have two awesome lemon chicken recipes. 😉 And, yes, one day I’ll share the luscious lemon chicken recipe with you, too!

Today’s version of the recipe really is SO easy and delicious. My little Anna especially loves it! Be sure you use the stabbing-the-chicken-with-a-fork trick – that is the key to this tender, flavorful chicken!

Thursday, October 16

One of the first things I learned in the kitchen in my early 20s was that it is reallyeasy to cook tough, hard-to-chew chicken. The first time I baked a chicken recipe I was so disappointed with the outcome. The chicken was not tender and delicious at all and I hated that. I quickly mastered the art of pounding chicken, which always yielded tender, evenly-cooked chicken. I’ve used that technique for years and still love it.

BUT…my mother-in-law Pat shared another trick with me that is equally as magical and beyond easy. She got the tip from a kid in town who worked in a restaurant and it’s great! Just stab the you-know-what out of your uncooked chicken breasts with a fork on both sides. Like, lots and lots of stabbing. Like, you-really-need-to-vent-some-frustration-so-you-take-it-out-on-the-innocent-chicken lots of stabbing. You end up with tender chicken and a little mental therapy to boot!

I like this method because it’s less messy. When you use a mallet, you need to get a cutting board dirty, there’s the yucky plastic wrap to contend with and, of course, the mallet also needs to be cleaned. With this method you just need a fork and you can stab the chicken right in the dish it will cook in. Easy peasy! This technique is also good for marinade…lots of little holes to soak it all up!

Tuesday, September 16

My mother-in-law Pat claims she’s not a good cook, but I wholeheartedly beg to differ. Some of my very best cooking tricks, tips and recipes have come from her. And some of my favorite non-recipe “recipes” come from her. Pat has a knack for making easy-to-prep food taste really good.

Today I’m sharing one of those non-recipe recipes. It is seriously beyond easy with only 3 ingredients. The recipe is a little old school, i.e. there is canned cream-of-whatever soup involved. I rarely buy canned soups, but I certainly do for this chicken recipe! The chicken comes out so tender and juicy, and the stuffing cooks perfectly, soft and yummy where it touches the chicken with a nice crunch around the outside.

Tuesday, March 4

Tacone is one of my favorite take-out food joints. They have great wraps and the best homemade potato chips EVER. Sadly, there are very few Tacone restaurants in the world and I hardly ever get my fix!

While I know I’ll never be able to replicate their potato chips, I can copycat my favorite Tacone wraps. My most favorite was always the Malibu Melt. It’s simple but oh-so-delicious. And the homemade version is just as good as the restaurant. Bonus: this recipe is super quick and easy, which is always my favorite kind of recipe!

Lay out the flour tortilla and spread some honey mustard dressing down the center. Add the chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and avocado. Top with another drizzle of honey mustard then wrap it all up like a burrito!

Welcome to This Week for Dinner!

Hi! My name is Jane Maynard and you've landed yourself on my blog, This Week for Dinner™. Every Sunday I share a weekly menu...and count on you to share yours! You'll also find other deliciousness that I hope you'll enjoy!

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